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Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees

Bangladeshi hospitals and international aid agencies are struggling to provide medical care for all the Rohingya refugees, many of whom have suffered horrific injuries and psychological trauma.
Time to act United Nations!!!

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Rohingya refugees Mohamed Heron, 6, and his brother Mohamed Akter, 4, pose for a portrait to show burns on their bodies at Kutupalong refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, October 14, 2017. Boys' uncle Mohamed Inus said burns resulted from Myanmar's armed forces firing rockets at their village. Two of their siblings, one seven years old and the other a 10-month-old infant, died in the attack, according to the uncle. Their father was held by the military and has not been heard of since. "These two children survived when our village was fired on with rockets," Inus said. Fleeing along with other villagers who abandoned their scorched homes, the boys reached Bangladesh after a three-day trek. At Kutupalong, they were treated for three weeks for their burns at a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic. JORGE SILVA/REUTERS

Rohingya refugee Kalabarow, 50, poses for a photograph at Leda refugee camp, in Bangladesh, October 15, 2017. Kalabarow said her husband, daughter and one son were killed when soldiers fired on her village in Maungdaw. She was hit in her right foot. She lay where she fell, pretending to be dead, for several hours before a grandson found her. During their 11-day journey to Bangladesh, a village doctor amputated her infected foot and four men carried her on a stretcher made of bamboo and a bedsheet. "As we walked through the forest, we saw burnt villages and dead bodies. I thought we would never be safe," she said. JORGE SILVA/REUTERS

Rohingya refugee Setara Begum, 12, poses for a photograph at Nayapara refugee camp in Bangladesh, October 14, 2017. Begum was among nine siblings in their home in Maungdaw when it was hit by a rocket. "I saved eight of my nine children from the burning house, but Setara was trapped inside," said her mother, Arafa. "I could see her crying in the middle of the fire, but it was difficult to save her. By the time we could reach her, she was badly burned." Setara's father carried her for two days to Bangladesh. The young girl received no treatment for the severe burns to her feet. Her feet healed. But she has no toes. The trauma has scarred her psychologically. "She has been mute from that day, and doesn't speak to anyone," her mother said. "She only cries silently." JORGE SILVA/REUTERS

Rohingya refugee Ansar Allah, 11, poses for a photograph at Leda refugee camp in Bangladesh, October 15, 2017. Allah showed a large, livid scar - the result of a gunshot wound. "They sprayed us with bullets, as our house was burning," his mother Samara said. "It was a bullet half the size of my index finger," she said, before adding, "I can't stop thinking, why did God put us in that dangerous situation?" JORGE SILVA/REUTERS

Rohingya refugee Nur Kamal, 17, poses for a photograph to show his head injuries, at Kutupalang refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, October 13, 2017. Kamal described how soldiers assaulted him after they found the young shopkeeper hiding in his home in Kan Hpu village in Maungdaw. "They hit me with a rifle butt on my head first and then with a knife," Kamal said. His uncle found him unconscious in a pool of blood. It took them two weeks to get to Bangladesh. "We want justice," Kamal said. "We want the international community to help us obtain justice." JORGE SILVA/REUTERS

Rohingya refugee Anwara Begum, 36, poses for a photograph at Kutupalang refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, October 13, 2017. Begum said she woke to find her home in Maungdaw township, in the northernmost part of Rakhine state, in flames. Before she could get out, the burning roof caved in on her and her nylon clothes melted onto her arms. Begum's husband carried his wife for eight days to reach the Kutupalong camp. "I thought I was going to die. I tried to stay alive for my children," Begum said, adding she was still waiting for treatment for her burns. JORGE SILVA/REUTERS

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGES OF SCENES OF INJURY Rohingya refugee Momtaz Begum, 30, poses for a photograph at Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh October 19, 2017. Begum told how soldiers came to her village demanding valuables. "I told them I was poor and had nothing. One of them started beating me saying, 'If you have no money, then we will kill you.'" After beating her, they locked her inside her house and set the roof on fire. She escaped to find her three sons dead and her daughter beaten and bleeding. Momtaz fled to Bangladesh where she spent 20 days at the MSF clinic receiving treatment for burns to her face and body. "What can I say about the future, if now we have no food, no house, no family. We cannot think about the future. They have killed that as well." JORGE SILVA/REUTERS

Rohingya refugee Imam Hossain, 42, sleeps on the ground at Kutupalang refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, October 14, 2017. Hossain said he was returning home after teaching at a madrassa in his village when three men attacked him with knives. The next day, he made his wife and two children leave with other villagers fleeing to Bangladesh. He reached Cox's Bazar later. He was still searching for his family. "I want to ask the Myanmar government why they are harming the Rohingya? Why do Buddhists hate us? Why do you torture us? What is wrong with us?" he said. JORGE SILVA/REUTERS

Rohingya refugee Mohamed Jabair, 21, poses for a photograph to show burns on his bodies, which he said he sustained when his house was set on fire in Myanmar, at Kutupalang refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, October 17, 2017. Knocked unconscious and badly burned, Jabair was carried by his brother and others for four days to Cox's Bazar. "I was blind for many weeks and admitted to a government hospital in Cox's Bazar for 23 days. I was frightened that I would be blind forever," he said. Jabair said money sent by relatives in Malaysia had run out and he could no longer afford treatment. JORGE SILVA/REUTERS

Rohingya refugee Abdu Rahaman, 73, poses for a photograph at Leda refugee camp in Bangladesh, October 15, 2017. Rahaman, a merchant from Maungdaw, was ambushed while walking on a mountain path with other refugees. A machete thrown at his feet severed three toes as he ran from his attackers. With his foot bleeding through a tourniquet made from his longyi, or sarong, Rahaman walked for two more hours, before his nephew and friends carried him across the border. "Our future is not good," he said. "Allah must help us. The international community has to do something." JORGE SILVA/REUTERS